Pei Tuo answered with a nod and eagerly entered the Thousand Rocks Grotto-Heaven.
Ji Shaoli remained outside to suppress the fluctuations produced by Pei Tuo devouring the grotto-heaven.
After all, this was the heartland of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, and the war was at a tense juncture. Although both he and Pei Tuo were genuine Alliance members, it was still best to be cautious and avoid needless trouble.
Just like the process when Li Fan had devoured the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens back then,
a grotesque Root of Heaven and Earth surged wildly from Pei Tuo's Golden Core.
With tens of thousands of tentacles, it deliberately rooted itself into every corner of the Thousand Rocks Grotto-Heaven,
entwining and constricting
until it finally enveloped the entire grotto-heaven.
The grotto-heaven rumbled, disintegrating into streams of luminous motes that merged into Pei Tuo's body.
This process lasted a full three days.
Three days later, Pei Tuo abruptly reappeared in the Xuanhuang Realm.
The roiling aura belonging to the Nascent Soul realm surged around him, refusing to settle for a long time.
Having been trapped at the Golden Core realm for so long, breaking through in a single stroke made Pei Tuo want to let out a long roar to vent the immense thrill in his chest.
Yet Ji Shaoli's cold reminder yanked him back to reality: "Let's go. Don't linger."
Pei Tuo's breath hitched in his throat.
Although he was now a full realm above Ji Shaoli, he did not dare underestimate him in the slightest.
Behind that Mutual Aid Association stood a truly terrifying power! Crushing a minor Nascent Soul like him would be as easy as turning over a hand.
Thus, Pei Tuo obediently followed behind Ji Shaoli, returning to the Congyun Sea quietly and swiftly.
When Xiang Xin and the others from the Mutual Aid Association saw Pei Tuo, now a Nascent Soul cultivator, their hearts shook violently.
They finally confirmed that Ji Shaoli had spoken the truth.
Even as they regretted not being the first to join, the looks they directed at Ji Shaoli grew increasingly fervent.
After hesitating for a moment, Xiang Xin ultimately could not resist the temptation and asked, "Fellow Daoist Ji, if we are to break through in the future, will the organization..."
Ji Shaoli cut him off with a smile.
"Rest assured, everyone. As the founding elders of the Congyun Sea Mutual Aid Association, the moment your realm is ripe, an unowned grotto-heaven will be arranged immediately! Therefore, your most important task right now is to cultivate diligently and raise your cultivation as quickly as possible!"
Those words instantly injected boundless drive into the few cultivators present.
They promptly returned to the Heavenly Profound Mirror on Wanxian Island and threw themselves into bitter cultivation, sparing no cost.
And when the news of Pei Tuo's breakthrough spread, it sent shockwaves through all the cultivators who had attended the banquet that day.
For a time, an endless stream of cultivators came to visit Haixuan Island, all seeking to join the Congyun Sea Mutual Aid Association.
However, Ji Shaoli chose to close his doors, refusing to see any of them.
"As the saying goes, the Dao cannot be imparted lightly."
Looking at the varied expressions of the crowd of cultivators gathered outside the Primordial Eight Extremes Dragon Slaying Formation, he smiled faintly.
Paying no heed to their shouts as if he heard nothing at all, Ji Shaoli returned to buying and selling goods on the Heavenly Profound Mirror's market.
Six million contribution points might look like a lot, but it was hardly enough to go around.
Before the Mutual Aid Association grew to full strength, he needed to earn back quite a bit more.
***
Spirit Wood Realm.
The instant Pei Tuo officially broke through to the Nascent Soul realm,
a vast surge of feedback cultivation arose out of nowhere within Li Fan's dantian.
It was instantly absorbed by Li Fan, causing his cultivation—originally at the mid-Golden Core realm—to leap forward by a significant bound.
"It really works! Using that nonexistent 'Compassionate True Immortal of the Mortal Realm' as an intermediary vessel, the ultimate beneficiary is still my true body!" Li Fan took a deep breath, his eyes gleaming with sharp light.
The key lay in the induction oath.
The oath roughly dictated that all brothers in the Mutual Aid Association, under the witness of the Compassionate True Immortal, had to help and love one another. Every convenience provided by the Mutual Aid Association was a bestowal from the Compassionate True Immortal. Members of the association had to keep this in mind at all times, and so forth.
"Looking at it this way, it won't be long before I return to the Nascent Soul realm."
"I just don't know whether the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals has discovered the Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven at this point in time."
After pondering for a while, Li Fan summoned Tianyang and had him make a trip to Tianling Province to see what the situation was like over there.
"Just scout. Your personal safety comes first," Li Fan cautioned.
Tianyang nodded heavily, then transformed into a streak of flowing light and escaped out of the Spirit Wood Realm.
"With Tianyang's strength, even if he's discovered, escaping shouldn't be much of a problem."
"Still, Soul Formation cultivation ultimately falls a bit short. Once I return to the Nascent Soul realm, perhaps I can consider helping him achieve Dao Integration."
Several figures of animas of Heaven and Earth flashed through Li Fan's mind in an instant.
After a brief deliberation, he locked onto a target.
An anima of Heaven and Earth was virtually equivalent to a Dao Integration cultivator.
Back then, Crimson Flame, who had been merely a stoker, had forced several Soul Formation cultivators of the Congyun Sea to exhaust all their means just to barely defeat it.
More importantly, the entire Dao Integration process had to be completed in complete silence without drawing the attention of other cultivators.
Otherwise, one was very likely to end up making wedding clothes for someone else—toiling only for another's benefit.
Even with Li Fan's assistance, it might still be a bit too much for Tianyang alone.
Li Fan could not help thinking of the three from the Medicine King Sect.
"Unfortunately, there is still some time before the Medicine King Cauldron returns."
Just as Li Fan was considering where else to procure some assistance,
a strange change suddenly arose within the Spirit Wood Realm.
By now, through Shang Tianci's tireless, round-the-clock labor, the Spirit Wood Realm had transformed completely.
Countless picturesque Xuanhuang landscapes dotted every corner of the Spirit Wood Realm. Dense, misty spiritual energy connected to the earth veins below and reflected the sky above,
as though woven into a seamless whole.
The entire world seemed to be undergoing a marvelous metamorphosis, and the one that was most noticeable—and benefited the most—was naturally the spirit tree at the center of the world.
In a short span of time, the tree, which had long since ceased growing, had shot up once more by nearly a third of its height.
Its leaves were lush and dripping green, rekindling a rare vitality.
It seemed as though something had been gestating all along.
With a thought, Li Fan instantly located the source of the anomaly through the Heart of the Spirit Wood.
It was in the center of the spirit tree, within the hollow space where treemen were originally birthed.
Countless green motes of light converged, coalescing into a hazy humanoid silhouette.
"This is..." Li Fan's eyes narrowed slightly. With a flicker of his body, he appeared nearby.
The treeman matriarch rushed over as well.
Looking at the increasingly distinct humanoid figure about to take shape not far away, she froze for a moment, then seemed to remember something.
Her excitement suddenly flared.
"Master, that is a Tree Spirit!" she offered eagerly, explaining it to Li Fan.
From the treeman matriarch's explanation, Li Fan came to understand what a so-called Tree Spirit truly was.
If treemen were beings born from the spirit tree to serve as guardians,
then their objective was to protect the spirit tree until it birthed its own sentience.
Compared to Li Fan, who had forcibly refined the Heart of the Spirit Wood and seized control by force, the Tree Spirit was much more like the true master of the Spirit Wood Realm.
An unclothed body gradually materialized before Li Fan.
The intensity of the aura emanating from it was steadily increasing as well.
In virtually a flash, it surpassed Li Fan, who was at the Golden Core realm.
Chapter 822